EDITED BY HEINZ GÄRTNER, JAN WILLEM HONIG AND HAKAN AKBULUT

Democracies are extremely unlikely to wage war against other democracies—this main proposition of the democratic peace theory constitutes the starting point for this volume. Chapters authored by experts from different parts of the world explore the concept of democratic peace in greater depth in relation to selected issue areas and in comparison to other concepts such as security communities or concerts of powers. The role and significance of international organizations and gender equality, for instance, are discussed and assessed in this context. The objective guiding this exercise is to give an answer to the question of whether democratic peace, security communities, or a concert of powers can provide a solution to today’s security challenges and constitute a guide to peaceful coexistence and conflict settlement. The chapters discuss intellectual frameworks at some length, reflect on potential inferences for the outside world, and highlight associated challenges, limits, and possible adverse implications.

Reviews

Prompted by the commemorations of the onset of the First World War a century ago, this book asks what amounts to the key question for anyone interested in world politics: What makes for a peaceful order? Focusing on the nexus of democracy, order and peace, the volume provides extraordinarily nuanced and very timely answers to this question.Markus Kornprobst

Democracy, Peace, and Security is an important contribution to the ongoing debate about the impact democracy has on peace and security. This book is an important intellectual tool for academics, graduate students, and faculty who are following this debate; but also for persons active in politics who are interested in a perspective which goes beyond the daily routine. The book establishes a link between academia, politics, and policies – an eye opener for all studying and doing research in International Relations.Anton Pelinka